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The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 1
Date: 5 September 2003, 8:58 PM

Pvt. George Stockwell clicked off the safety on his MA58 assault rifle. He swung left, raising the gun to his shoulder, casting light into the dark bushes. He hated the night patrols... why the hell does Sarge always send me out? He wondered. Then his thoughts snapped back to reality. There it was again; a rustling of leaves, this time on his right. A small bark erupted somewhere behind him; then the shuffling of feet. Grunts he thought, turning around. An alien emerged off to his right, and another to his immediate left. Stockwell pivoted towards the first grunt, but had barely enough time to fire one bullet... the Major Elite had snuck up on him, and with one swing of the plasma rifle, dropped the unfortunate marine.

2 Days Later

"Incoming Banshee!" Sgt. Reed hollered hollered from the side seat of the Warthog. The marine in the driver's seat tried to maneuver out of the streambed he had been in when the fuel rod torpedo erupted in the water behind him. The marine in the gunner's seat was killed instantly from the explosion, and the driver, along with Reed, was flung out. The unfortunate driver literally splattered against a nearby rock as the Banshee swooped in for another attack. Sgt. Reed was flung into some bushes; there was pain in his right leg. He swore, but was thankful he still had some defense... 3 frags, his S2 AM sniper rifle, and two clips of ammo. Then he swore again, realizing that he had nothing to take the Banshee down with.

All for that godamn Stockwell he muttered to himself. Lost for 2 days... can't Command just accept that he was dead? NO... He thought... always gotta check and get more of my men killed... great.

By now the Banshee pilot had given up his search, assuming the other human was under the water. It had swooped in for a minute, killed two men and injured a third, then took off. Reed couldn't believe these Covenant... they were almost unstoppable. Now he had to make it to Bravo Base alive... otherwise four men from his squad, including him, were gone. Not good. After checking several times that no Covenant patrols were nearby, the Sgt. hobbled over to the Warthog, which had made a full flip and landed rubber-side down. It wasn't good however: the back-right tire was gone; just the empty swing arm remained. The entire LAAG gun was busted; it wouldn't turn properly, and even if it had, no marine gunner and a bent barrel would make the gun useless. The vehicle would also be an easy target for Covenant search parties. On the other hand, a marine recon may search for it, too... After deciding to abandon the Hog, he grabbed the MedKit and put some Biofoam on his right leg to stop the bleeding; it was making him dizzy. He tried to stand, then fell back down. A few minutes later he got up again and managed to stand. Reed slung the sniper rifle over his back and prepared for the long hike back to Bravo Base. What I wouldn't do for that damn Banshee... he thought.

Back at Bravo Base, Pvt. Hack searched the comm. channels. It's been 3 hours since the search party set out in the damn Hog... something must've gone wrong, he thought. The Sarge had been on the patrol with them, which was something Hack had warned him about... what if something happened? But Reed wouldn't take any of that shit... Now the Sarge, who was codenamed Bravo 1, was possibly dead- along with Bravos 3, 4, and 7- the missing Stockwell. It was odd... Stockwell couldn't have strayed far from the base.. maybe a ten-minute walk at the most. After he hadn't checked back in at base, Sarge had been on edge. Did that mean the Covies were in-bound of Bravo Base? Wondered Hack. First thing in the morning Command radioded in, ordering Sgt. Reed to send out a search party, which arrived back at base with no success. Today he went out with the search party... and had been gone for 3 hours now... It was too suspicious. The Covenant had to be in the area Hack thought out loud. And with Sarge missin, that aint good. There's only me, Lynch, Martelli, and Jesseman left to hold down this dumbass little outpost. And the weapons aint top-notch; two damn snipers, a few assault rifles, and one rocket launcher, with only two rockets he thought. They're nearby he thought, and I just hope they don't decide to show up now. But Pvt. Hack knew they would, long before the Wraith came crashing through the trees outside.

The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 2- The Attack Begins
Date: 11 September 2003, 2:08 AM

Sgt. Reed ejected the spent cartridge and slammed a new one home. Shouldering his S2 again, he lined up his sight on the Jackal. Not two seconds later, the armor-piercing round slammed through the alien's skull, ending the last member of the Covie patrol in a splatter of purple blood. Scanning the area and deciding it was clear, Reed got to his feet. There was still some pain in his right leg, but not enough to keep him off it. Actually, the Sergeant had made good time; by a quick estimate, he was maybe a one-day hike from his whiskey bottle that lay safely in his desk drawer... But back to the task at hand he thought. Steadying himself, he hobbled over to where the last alien fell. Three Jackals, four Grunts, and two Elites (one a major, the other a minor)- lay sprawled on the ground his feet. He picked up one of the Elite's plasma rifles, and found the charge at 23%. Just then he caught his foot on a dead Grunt- a very unfortunate thing to do. The blades on the alien's elbow cut open a new wound on his leg as he went down. Wincing in pain, the Sarge took out his Bio-Foam to try and kill the pain. Now out of breath, the Marine didn't bother to check the other Elite's gun (which had a charge of 88%), but stood up and cautiously resumed his hike back to base. Not checking the other gun was a most unfortunate thing to do.

The Covenant Field Commander lowered the throttle on his Wraith. The machine slowed to a crawl, then hovered in the air as two squads of Grunts shuffled past, followed by seventeen Elites. Leading the ground troops was one of those badass Elites- a Special Op, blessed by the Covenant Prophets themselves. It led a mixed group of Major and Minor Grunts and Elites through the trees to the very edge of the forest. Then the black armor-clad soldier turned toward the tank, awaiting orders. Inside the Wraith, the BattleNet channels buzzed. From what the Commander could gather before the transmission went dead, Bloodied Fang squad had set out on routine patrol and had fallen under attack from a human sniper. The Elite snarled; now it was time for his revenge. The tank began to move up, signaling it would go in first. The other aliens scrambled to get out of the way, but one unfortunate Grunt was caught between the Wraith's bulbous side and a tree. Methane leaked from it's tank as the Wraith slid past, mowed down a large tree, and emerged into the open plain. Suddenly it lobbed a plasma orb into the air, with a trajectory that would put it right in the front door of Bravo Base.

"SHIT!" screamed Hack. "THEY'RE HERE! JESUS, THEM DAMN COVENANT ARE HERE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Martelli jumped out of his seat, spilling coffee down his front. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, seeing the horrified expression on the Private's face. Martelli rushed over to Hack's monitor. At least twenty different enemy signals, including an enemy attack craft, flashed on-screen. Damn... he mumbled. Without questioning his fellow Marine, Hack slammed the combat alert button and released the weapons lockers. Time to earn my pay he thought as him and Martelli ran into the hall. Just then, a massive explosion resounded through the halls. Another Marine, Jesseman, raced towards Hack and Martelli. "THEY'VE BLOWN THE DOOR!" he screamed, pointing back towards the shattered remnants of the base's blast door. Hack squinted, and in the distance he thought he could see a purple, floating blob... and a massive ball of death racing out the top of it...

Bravo Base was a small outpost on Yavin II, a small moon orbiting Sigma Octanus IV. Mostly forests with a few scattered lakes and streams, the moon served no real purpose as a defense station for the planet below. It did, however, have a few detection/scanning stations, and one small outpost, Bravo, staffed with only eight UNSC Marines. Built into the side of a hill, Bravo Base was on the outskirts of the forest, with wide plains and a small lake to it's left. In the hills above the structure were the power stations for the scanning devices and the planet itself, along with the Marine's barracks and a landing pad, which a Pelican dropship, Sierra 523, now occupied. A massive blast door, wide enough for two Scorpion MBT's to pass through together, marked the front of the instalation. One story up were the defense stations: one machine gun turret, and many shields that the Marines could take cover with, similar to those that littered the Pillar of Autumn's hallways. Both the blast door and upper defense stations all fed into underground hallways, which consisted of more then half of the base. The vehicle storage bay was one floor below ground level, as were the armory stations. If the top two floors were lost to enemy control, the Marines could take cover in the hallways. However, the only escape route from those tunnels was in the ramp that led up to the landing pad, which could only be accessed by the lower level tunnels. The ramp was large enough to move a Scorpion through; unfortunately the base didn't have one available. Too bad for the Marines, because even as the Covenant flooded into the newly-blasted front door of Alpha Base and the humans ran for Armory 3, the Covenant tank began to circle around the hill Bravo Base was dug into. Once in position, it began bombarding the landing pad. In one energy bomb, Sierra 523 ceased to exist. Then the tank turned it's sights on the other door.

The Commander Elite laughed loudly as the bomb arched into the air, then fell gracefully downward. Upon impact, a loud explosion similar to the other door's demise rang out to the Marines below, who were scrambling to their weapons. Seven Elites and five Grunts trudged up the hill after the tank, ready to storm into the back door. Soon, thought the Filed Commander, it will be all over. Once again he let out a cruel, evil laugh. Swinging the tank around again, he focused on the generators hidden amongst the tress, and let the plasma launch into the sky.

The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 3- Retaliation
Date: 14 September 2003, 5:25 PM

As Hack, Martelli, and Jesseman pounded through the inner hallways of Bravo Base, the lights flickered and then died. Martelli swore, but the trio kept running towards Armory #3. In a couple of seconds the back-up lights kicked in, casting an eerie red glow about the halls. As they turned the corner, Lynch came bursting out. He had the M19 rocket launcher in his hands, and a MA5B slung over his shoulder. "I'll take that tank," he said as the others rushed past. Suddenly a massive explosion similar to that of the base's crumpling doors was heard. The Marines could actually feel the entire base shake. They looked at each other but no words were spoken. Each of them knew it was the Pelican. And they knew that they would now have no evac. "You can't!" screamed Martelli above the noise. "Them damn monsters are crawling all around up there; we've lost the top! And you know that two rockets can't take that thing!" But Lynch just grinned. He reached down to his belt and unclipped a grenade. Hack saw two more M9 HE-DP's clipped onto his belt too. But Hack noticed something else; a huge, burned gash along the side of Lynch's rib cage that went from his stomach to the small of his back. It looks almost like an Elite gave him a paper cut with his plasma sword thought Hack. The explosions must have short-circuited his station or something, resulting in some sort of explosion. He was surprised he hadn't noticed it before. Lynch saw him starring, "Yeah. It's a bitch, eh? You guys get out of here; I'll buy you some time. I won't make it, but you can." Lynch was right, the wound was fatal. He had lost enough blood already to ensure that. Hack nodded. "Semper Fi," he said, then turned and ran towards the Armory. Jesseman and Martelli watched Lynch hobble up the steps. Semper Fi Jesseman muttered. The two turned to follow Hack.

The Special Ops Elite entered through the front of the base. He sent his two Grunts ahead to scout the area. Next went the ten Elites under his command. Six of those Elites rushed for the stairs to get to the top floor and disable any threat up there, including the turret gun. The others spread out into the complex, staying on the first floor. The Special Ops orders were to not descend, because the other five Grunts and seven Elites were storming the back, which led below. He was ordered to guard the main levels. His troops reported in; no humans were on these floors. He ordered the Elites on the second floor to hold their positions and keep an eye out for enemy support. As for the others, they were told to spread out into the base's interior and guard each room. After giving his orders, the Special Ops proceeded down the hall to the stairs, to check on things up there. Meanwhile, the two Grunts were lucky enough to pick the room with the stairs that led below. Those same stairs Lynch was now coming up.

Pvt. Lynch cautiously peered out from the stairwell. In the room above him, two Grunts had just walked in. He ducked back down, trying to figure out a plan. They hadn't spotted him yet, and he intended to keep it that way. After a few seconds he looked up again, and to his relief the Grunts had tucked themselves into their sleep positions, not even bothering to check the stairwell. Lynch suppressed a laugh; This will be easy he thought. Little buggers won't know what hit 'em. As soundlessly as he could, he crept up the stairs. He brought the rocket launcher down on the first Grunt; an ugly red-colored SOB. The alien was killed instantly, and his orange-clad buddy hadn't even moved. Lynch smiled again; too easy. The second Grunt went the same way, quickly and quietly. But now Lynch had to get outside, and the pain in his side was getting worse. He snuck to the door and found it ajar; cautiously he peered out. He could see a black-colored Elite down the hallway moving towards the second floor stairs. He could now hear the Wraith pounding the building behind the base more then ever. Luckily for him, it wasn't out front again. The Elite turned into the main hallway and began climbing the stairs. Now was his chance. Lynch sprang from hiding and bounded down the hall. The explosions above covered his noise; but he could still be seen. He only had to pass the main hallway and stairs before he was out front. He paused at the hallway intersection; all clear. Lynch raced for the crumpled blast door and soon felt fresh air hit his face. He had made it past the enemy. He was outside. Careful to stay below the upper ledge in case the enemy was up there, Lynch crept around the building towards the hill. If he was lucky, he could make it to the top without being spotted. The second floor had no clear view of the side of the base, so his only chance of being detected came from above. And Lynch didn't want to be welcomed by a plasma bomb. In a matter of minutes, Lynch was in position, level with the Covenant tank, but hidden by a few trees. Bravo Base was on his immediate right, and open ground to his left. Bringing the rocket launcher up, he took aim at the armored behemoth, and squeezed the trigger.

Oh shit... Sgt. Reed stumbled into a clearing in the woods, not a five-minute walk from salvation. Or so he had thought. Now he was scarred. Covenant cargo containers littered the ground, and a line of smashed trees weaved through the forest. It was like someone- something- had made a trail. Big enough to fit a Scorpion, he muttered. Or.... a Wraith. Reed quickly moved into the trees; he didn't want any surprises. He stayed with the trail until he came upon a dead Grunt. Half was stuck into a tree, and the other half lay on the ground. It looked crushed to death between something. But what scarred him most was the fact that it was an alien. That meant the Covenant were at the base. Reed swore yet again, stepped out of the trees, and faced the base. He was both shocked and horrified at what he saw.

The rocket launcher recoiled so hard that Lynch's head spun. The same went for the Elite inside the Wraith. As he regained control of the damaged machine, he swung right and left, looking for the source of the attack. He fired on the human barracks in the trees behind the base. At the same time they exploded, the Wraith was hit again. This time the machine started to jump, like it had been hit from beneath. The Commander was perplexed- what was happening? There it was again; another bump from below. Grenades? It thought. But where? The tank swung back toward the blast door and fired, thinking the human may have hidden in there. "AHHHHHHH!" A dozen screams emitted from the tunnel, and three dead Grunts and one Elite flew from the tunnel. Not one second later a massive explosion erupted; the plasma mortar had killed these four aliens, but the other Covenant forces in the tunnel were pulverized when the mortar detonated all their grenades. The Commander had just wiped out his squad of seven Elites and five Grunts- he swore in his alien tongue. Even after all of that, he still hadn't killed that human. Just then a second rocket erupted from the trees to the tank's left. Tricky bastard the alien thought as the rocket hit, exploded, and fire consumed his

The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 4- Reunion
Date: 22 September 2003, 8:09 PM

After diving back into the protection of the trees, Reed brought his sniper rifle up. The Covenant patrol he had taken down the other day hadn't left him with much defense; just a plasma rifle and two more sniper shots. He turned his sights on the base in front of him. The front blast door was crumpled on the ground, spread out in a few huge chunks. On the second floor, six Elites wandered back on fourth, occasionally scanning the skies for any more humans. Shit muttered Reed. Two bullets weren't much. Even if he was lucky enough to nail two Elites with headshots, there would still be four, and possibly even more inside the base to deal with. Reed swept his gun back and fourth, resting his sight on the turret gun. The weapon lay limp, hanging over the wall. To the right of his field of vision, a black-armored alien emerged from the stairs. Ah-ha, Reed said to himself, target sighted. He had been briefed at Command about Elites and the way they're warrior-caste system worked. Apparently different colored armor denoted a higher rank. The Special-Ops Elite had just become Sgt. Reed's new best friend. He followed the alien until it paused next to a shinny red bastard and paused. Now or never thought Reed. Not a second later, the Special Ops head was blasted away, and all the other Elites had dived for cover.

Lynch dropped the rocket launcher in the trees and slammed a fresh clip into his MA5B. He sprinted past the smoking Wraith and crouched near the destroyed blast door. He swept his gun back and forth as he descended; no enemy contacts. Lynch let out a sigh of relief; he didn't think that he'd be able to hold his own against the Covenant with his injury. Lucky for him the alien's had been slaughtered by they're own armor support. Blue and purple blood was smeared all over the walls, and a few half-vaporized aliens lay about the floor. He came across one destroyed gun, a plasma pistol that was smashed in half. A pool of green plasma was collecting on the floor. Lynch decided to not touch it. The backup lights in this area were gone, so Lynch switched on his flashlight. He continued down the ramp cautiously, fearing that an Elite would jump out and strangle him to death. He passed the vehicle bay, but Lynch already knew that two Hogs were parked inside. What he wanted to find was the others. He paused before turning the corner. On the other side he might run into two things: A Covenant patrol which would kill him, or a fellow Marine, who would mistake him for an alien, and kill him before anyone realized who it was. Well, we'll find out soon enough he thought, and then called out, "Hack! Yo Hack, don't shoot! It's me! Lynch! Don't shoot!" Half a second later there was a response. "Lynch! Get your ass over hear!" Lynch turned the corner to see Jesseman running towards him, assault rifle in hand. Just as Jesseman reached Lynch, a loud crack echoed through the tunnels. "What the hell..?" muttered Jesseman. "Was that a sniper rifle?" Lynch shrugged and followed him towards the armory. Just then another retort was heard. Does that mean the patrol that went looking for Stockwell is still alive? Did Sarge make it? thought Lynch. Inside Hack had a S2 slung over his back, two frags on his belt, and a MA5B in his hands. The same went for Martelli, except for the grenades. They all starred in disbelief when Jesseman entered with Lynch following behind. "Damn" muttered Hack. "How the hell... the tank... damn." was all he could say. Lynch grinned. "Ok, maybe my injury isn't THAT bad... I can still kick some ass." He walked over to the ammo locker and pulled out a pack of 7.62 bullets for his assault rifle, then looked at the other Marines, who continued starring. "What? I ain't Jesus; let's go!" The others laughed and sprang into action, collecting all the extra ammo they could. Just as the four Marines turned the corner from the armory and continued they're race to the Warthogs, footsteps were heard on the stairs.

The Major Elite that had been talking to the Special Ops before his head exploded dove against the front wall. Glancing to his left, he saw that the other five in his squad had also found cover against the human sniper's attack. Cursing in his alien tongue, the Elite sprang to his feet. Before he even got one step, the human dropped him with a single shot to the head, much the same as the Special Ops. Another Elite, a blue armored one, glanced towards another Minor in his squad. They planned to both stand up at the same time and make a break for the door. The two remaining Elites, a Major and Minor, would follow soon after the other two. In this way, at least two of the squad's Elites would make it off the ledge alive. Both aliens sprang up and took off as fast as they could. Surprisingly, not a single shot was fired. Puzzled, the other two waved they're teammates on. Once again, two Elites emerged from cover, ran unprotected, and survived. And not a single shot was fired. The foursome wasted not time wondering what happened to the pathetic human. The Major took charge and led them down the stairs. The raced past the open blast door, and yet again they went unchecked through the halls. The four Elites on the bottom floor emerged, awaiting orders. The Major explained the situation to his new squad, which consisted of eight Elites and himself. Three of his troops were going to hold they're positions in the makeshift Covenant Communications center, while the other five followed the Major in search of the humans. One of the blue Elites stumbled into the room where the two Grunts were killed. He alerted the others, and they quickly descended the stairs. The Major in command held back for a second. He issued an order to his three Elites to make contact with The Purification Sacrifices, the destroyer orbiting the moon, for troop support. He wanted three dropships, loaded with Elites, Jackals, and Hunters, planet-side as fast as possible. He also put in a request for a Banshee or two, along with a few Ghosts. These humans have no chance he thought. Filthy humans... and with that he raced down the stairs after his squad.

"Go go GO!" screamed Martelli from the gunner's seat. "I am! Just shoot em!" Hack hollered at him as he floored the Hog. He raced after Lynch and Jesseman who had made it up the ramp and were dodging the debris from the blast door, Covie tank, and Sierra 523. Jesseman was behind the wheel on the first Warthog, leaving Lynch to gun. Plasma fire raced after Hack's Warthog as he broke into the sunlight. Martelli swung back and opened fire on the aliens. Hack then turned left, following Jesseman down the hill. Lynch and Martelli covered the open blast door, second floor, and hill as the Hogs sped towards the forest. Just then a figure broke from the trees. Lynch pivoted his gun to meet the new threat, but soon realized it wasn't an Elite. The Sarge was alive!

The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 5- Enemy Reinforcements
Date: 30 September 2003, 12:29 AM

The Purification Sacrifices was holding orbit above Sigma Octanus IV when the message came through the BattleNet. The Elite manning the radio port was shocked. From what he'd been told, the entire squad sent down to Yavin II was killed by the Humans, except for 8 of his own kind, and a extra squad of mixed troops that were in a dropship, which was hidden in the forest. The chain of command led down to a Major Elite, who had requested that reinforcements be sent to the moon. Under normal circumstances, such an order from a lower-ranking officer would be dismissed, but the alien who received the message thought it was urgent enough for the Prophets to see. To think that a group of Humans, four or five if he remembered correctly, were destroying his own... unbelievable. He ordered the nearest Grunt to take charge of the radio, then set off down the hall towards the Council of Masters. With luck, he would run into the ship's Commander and the Prophet on board.

"Watch it Marine! You almost hit that damn tree!" yelled Sgt. Reed. Hack grinned then swung the Hog to the left, falling back in line behind Lynch and Jessemans' LRV. It had been about one hour since the four surviving Marines had found their Sarge alive near the edge of the woods. They were all shocked, but reality soon fell back into play. Covenant reinforcements could be arriving within the hour, and they all knew that. As they bounced along the rough terrain, Hack and Reed exchanged their stories. Hack told him about the Wraith, the swarm of aliens, and surviving the assault, while Reed told him about surviving the Warthog crash, Banshee attack, and Covenant patrol squad. Both Marines were shocked at what the other had gone through.
Over the radio came Jesseman's voice. "Hey Sarge, where's that other Hog? I'm stopping for a sec; hold on." Up ahead the warthog slowed to a stop. "Well Sarge? We gonna go find it?" he asked.
"Nah. POS it totaled; plus, I grabbed the Medkit. It's worthless."
"Roger." Lynch began speaking. "...But what about the ammo..?"
"Jammed."
"Oh. Never mind then."
This time Martelli spoke up. "What ever happened to Stockwell?"
At this all four Marines looked to Sarge. He shrugged his shoulders. "Lord only knows. Never found him; we got ambushed first."
"Oh."
"Oh shit..." said Hack, starring down at the radar on the Hog's display. "Hey Sarge, did you manage to take down that Banshee..?"
Reed was speechless. He glanced down at the radar. One big read dot was moving in from the south... fast...
"We've got company!" Hack shouted.
Jesseman swore and started his Hog back up, as did Hack. Martelli and Lynch scanned the skies, watching the treetops for the appearance of the enemy fighter. Reed picked up his Plasma Rifle and switched it on. The Warthogs were soon moving, but the Banshee was gaining. It's screeching engines could be clearly heard above the two Hog's engines. Seconds later, plasma ripped through the treetops, scorching the ground behind the Warthogs. Hack and Jesseman wove through the trees as Lynch and Martelli positioned themselves for a clear shot. The Banshee was above the canopy, firing down. And the hog's gunner seats couldn't reach the angle to hit it. Both Marines kept they're guns aimed just below the fighter, waiting for it to line up with they're sights. Just then the vehicles emerged into a large clearing. And there to greet them were a few very surprised Covenant warriors gathered around a dropship.

The Purification Sacrifices deployed 17 dropships to the surface of Yavin II after hearing of the Human retaliation. The Prophet onboard the cruiser also added three Wraiths, five more Banshees, and nine Ghosts for armor support. The surface-bound aliens included four Hunters, 31 Grunts, 19 Jackals, and 27 Elites. The Covenant troops were sure that the Humans stood no chance. The small moon would be taken, and serve as a key base for Covenant troops once the attack on Sigma Octanus IV began. For now, The Purification Sacrifices was serving as a scout ship; its new cloaking system was being tested, and so far the ship's presence was unknown to the Humans, except for those on the moon. Soon the rest of the Covenant fleet would arrive, but the Sacrifices' goal was to establish a base on the moon, then deploy all remaining forces onto Sigma Octanus IV. And with a Prophet watching his every move, the ship's Commander decided to use brute force to wipe out the remaining humans. Maybe it was overkill... but the Commander loved the feeling of battle. He was filled with anger and motivation with every passing fight. It was as if he lived to fight, and fought to live. Those Humans will pay he thought. How dare the defy us! He anxiously awaited the call that would announce his victory. The incoming BattleNet message both surprised and pleased him. Apparently the Humans had run into the dropship holding position on the moon. Still, he waited, not knowing whether or not to recall the 17 dropships loaded with troops and vehicles. Only a few Jackals and Grunts, and maybe two Elites were planet-side to fight off the Humans. If those Humans got lucky, he thought, then I'll still need those reinforcements down there. The Commander turned to the Grunt at his side and ordered him to stay with the Elite monitoring the BattleNet. The Commander wanted to know the second the Humans were destroyed, from either the planet-side troops or reinforcements. He was certain this would be the end of them.

The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 6- Evac
Date: 9 October 2003, 2:21 AM

Jesseman almost wet his pants as he burst into the clearing. Surrounding a Covie dropship were at least 20 aliens; all different types. He veered a hard right, fishtailing the back end into a Jackal. The alien was shot out the other end of the Hog, with tread marks all over it's mangled body. By now the initial surprise had worn off; scorching hot bolts of plasma sliced through the air around the Warthog. Lynch, who was in the back of Jesseman's Hog, had opened fire on the enemy forces, too. Somewhere overhead he could hear the whine of the Banshee's engines, although he wasn't sure who it was following. Lynch, on the other hand, wasn't sure who to shoot. He swept the gun back and forth methodically, like he was watering a garden, getting every spot. One bullet tore through a Grunt's arm just as it activated a grenade. It dropped the blue orb right behind a Jackal and two Elites, who didn't notice. Just as Hack's Warthog completed it's clockwise circle around the dropship, the grenade detonated. The Jackal and one of the Elites were killed instantly. The third alien, however, only lost his shields, but was blown right into the path of Hack's incoming vehicle.

The Warthog ran into the Elite like it was nothing more then a sapling. By now only a handful of Covenant forces remained; maybe four or five Grunts, a lone Jackal, and two Elites. And the Banshee. The pilot was looking down on the battle now. He watched as his brothers were destroyed by the filthy Humans. He was surprised to see that he and his prey had stumbled onto the dropship. He had known it was there of course, but he was so anxious to destroy the Humans that he didn't even realize where he was chasing them to. Hell, he might've been promoted to Special Ops. had he killed them. Looking down again, he watched as another Elite fell, then two more Grunts. The Humans had made short work of the Covenant forces, and the Banshee pilot was worried. The dropship hadn't taken off yet, as was protocol. Maybe there was no pilot in it he thought. And now that they were clear of the trees, those LAAG guns would tear through his Banshee in no time. A bad situation. The last Elite fell now, oozing blood. The Jackal moved back to the center of the dropship, hoping to gain cover from the enemy fire. The two Grunts followed him, but before the red Major could get behind his ally's shield he was hit. The two enemy vehicles below him were swerving back and forth, staying in front of the ship, trying to nail the two remaining troops. I die now with honor he thought as he swooped in. One of the Humans noticed him and opened fire. A bullet tore through the Banshee's platting and sliced open the Elite's left arm. However, the alien barely noticed it. He launched a fuel rod torpedo, which detonated behind the attacking vehicle. The plasma guns were broken; he had to wait for another torpedo to reload. The Humans in the other LRV opened fire; suddenly the cockpit of the Banshee was hot, very hot. A warning light flashed on and off; both the fuel rod gun and plasma lasers were destroyed. Sparks flew into the Elites face as he dropped into a sudden dive. It was a death spiral; a suicide drop towards Jesseman and Lynch's Warthog. He would die with honor...

Reed watched in horror as the Banshee dove. He tried to scream but the sound of Martelli's gun and the Jackal's plasma fire drowned out his voice. Jesseman and Lynch never saw it coming. Suddenly there was a huge explosion and a deafening sound. Hack skidded to a stop and jerked his body around to watch, aghast. Martelli let go of the LAAG gun and turned to stare; even the two Covie troops stopped firing. The Banshee landed right on top of the Warthog. The explosion detonated all of the Marine's grenades, along with the Elites. A piece of the Banshee's wing flew towards the Jackal and Grunt, smashed into them, and killed them both. Debris began raining down on Hack as he floored the accelerator. He swung the Hog to face the Covie dropship, then killed the engine and jumped out. A burning tire rolled past him as he ran over to the crash site. Martelli continued to stare, as did Reed. Hack ran to the edge of the burning crater where only seconds ago two of his friends were. The fire roared on, drowning out Hack's thoughts. He stood like this for about a minute, cursing the Covenant, before Sgt. Reed called him over.
"Marine, get your ass over here." Reed tried to play it cool, keep it business like. It wasn't good to dwell on things like that in Military life. At least right now it wasn't, when they were under attack.
Hack walked slowly over to Reed and Martelli, who had gotten out of the Hog and were staring at a Covenant cargo container. This one, however, was a mobile communications port. An alien keyboard was on either side, and spiked antae stood at the top, leaning to the sides. Hack shrugged; right now he couldn't care less. Reed said something Hack didn't catch, but he noticed Reed point to a screen. On it, at least 15 dropships; Covenant dropships, maybe 17 of them; had landed at Bravo Base. Here we go again thought Hack.
Or at least he thought. "Well boys, I never did like that damn post... does anyone want to learn how to fly one of these things? I'm thinkin we should get outta here." Reed motioned towards the Covenant dropship to behind him. Martelli grinned, and Hack nodded. "Right. Well men, let's collect everything we can: grenades, guns, whatever these SOB's have got. Load it up and get ready to roll." After the last plasma pistol was dropped inside on of the troop bays, Reed strolled back to the monitor. The Covenant had been bust too; Banshees were now flying overhead, and a Ghost squad emerged over the hill. A Wraith followed closely behind, and Reed thought he saw another behind that one, waiting up there. He sighed. He had lost five men to these bastards, and Hack, Martelli, and himself would probably be dead before the day was over. I did my best he thought. And truly he had; but somewhere in his mind he knew that wasn't good enough...
"Sir, do you think we can load the Hog up on, err, in the dropship, sir?" Martelli asked the Sarge, bringing him back into reality. "If we can fit it in there like the Covies do with they're vehicles, sir, I think it would be a good idea."
Reed nodded. "If we can fly this thing Private, consider it done. Go get Hack then get yourself inside that bird; we're takin off."
"Aye aye, sir."
With no AI to help him, Reed tried to figure out the controls to the alien ship. He had managed to close the bay doors and lift off the ground. He even secured the Warthog between those glowing beams, just like Martelli had suggested. But flying was a different story. And the beeping of the ship's radar wasn't helping much. Especially when that radar read that five Banshees were inbound. And Reed knew it would only take seconds for them to figure out who was really inside the ship.

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